Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned. Without heat, there is no life. Without heat, there is no us. Absolute zero is the temperature 0 Kelvin, -273° Celsius, -460° Fahrenheit. At that temperature, movement ceases.…
You can also check out my piece “White fear” from June 1, 2020. On February 28, 1990, I was a 13-year-old 8th-grader living in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a shy, quiet kid – small for my age. I enjoyed school and usually earned good grades. I had close friends and was coming to terms with missing…
Climate change is at the top of many of our minds. The IPCC reports over the past few years have made clear the imperative that we reduce carbon emissions immediately. A key method for local communities to impact the climate crisis is to move away from gas infrastructure to electric. If we shift from gas…
Raging fire alight on frozen waters, Shaking earth is hidden underground. Can we protect our children, sons and daughters? We know that what was lost cannot be found. Clenching fist inside a velvet glove, Chaos breaks inside a stone facade. Can we change the outcome with our claims of previous love? Not when we pray…
We live within circles – the circles of racism, of white supremacy, of domination. And we may not always be clear where within these circles we reside. I condemn the racist actions of a man who walked into a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and shot down 13 people because of his belief in replacement…
Jimmy glanced over his room for any sign of danger. Seeing none, he flicked off the lights and dove into his bed. At that point, he was in a race against time to pull the covers over his head, tucking them quickly underneath all points of his body. Because he didn’t like the stuffy feeling…
A cacophanal burst of colors arriving first in slow motion, Green pushing through white and brown and gray Joined by tentative flaxen yellow, then accelerating bronze and turquoise, Suddenly ferocious maroon and crimson. The cardinal perches high in the branches of a tree, Proclaiming his insistent message to everyone in the neighborhood: "We were sealed…
During the 40 days of Lent, the season leading up to Easter, many Christians traditionally forswear some vice or temptation. Some people might give up coffee, sugar, or alcohol. Catholics may fast entirely on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and avoid meat on every Friday of Lent. This year, the First United Church of Oak…
We human beings search for patterns. We look for them in the weather, in the habits of those around us, in the lives of other creatures and in our own. We especially search for patterns in tragedies. We don’t want to believe that horrible events could happen at random to anyone, let alone to us…
I stand in the doorway between two rooms: one dark, one full of light. I know which one calls me, but I cannot pass through. I believe I am ready for the brightness, but is there something I must still do to prepare? March is that doorway, that space in between, neither barren winter nor…
Entwining 